At Mr. Factory in Madrid, Dino Muhić, Director of Product at OTOY sat down with Andrey Lebrov to discuss the future of Octane and the Render Network, upcoming features, and how Octane artists can benefit from new innovations on Render — available to use today at render.x.io.
During their conversation, they answered the following questions:
- What render engines are currently supported
- What drives Dino as both an artist and product leader in improving artist workflows
- How does the differential upload feature optimize workflow for Render users
- What’s ahead on the Render Network roadmap, including new integrations and upcoming support for Blender
- What improvements can artists expect to make rendering easier and more accessible
If you’re a 3D artist or studio professional, this guide compiles key resources and updates from Dino’s interview to help you streamline your workflow and try Render today, with free access for Blender users and €100 in Render Credits — just go to: https://try.rendernetwork.com/bcon24
DCCs Supported on the Render Network
Render Network now supports Octane via ORBX in Octane Standalone. Last year, Render Network integrated the Cinema 4D Wizard, followed by Redshift, which is now in open beta. At the moment, Blender with Cycles is in closed beta as the network continues expanding support for more DCCs.
Blender Cycles Closed Beta
“Octane integration currently in beta for Blender Cycles users.”
By applying the insights gained from integrating our first external DCC, Cinema 4D, the Render Network team was able to streamline the Blender Cycles integration process. As a result, development progressed much faster, and the integration is now on its way to a public closed beta for artists — stay tuned.
Render Network Manager
“Organize, upload, and manage renders seamlessly with this powerful tool.”
The Render Network Manager streamlines rendering workflows by enabling faster uploads, parallel downloads, and by automating jobs. A key feature, differential uploads, prevents re-uploading unchanged assets, significantly reducing transfer times, especially useful for collaborating with team members remotely. Please see below for more information about using the Render Network Manager application.
Dino Muhić, who led the development of the Cinema 4D Wizard Checker, has helped shape these improvements, with a Blender version potentially in the works.
What’s the goal? A seamless, artist-friendly experience with minimal manual work.
“I want to simplify the workflow for artists so they don’t have to repeat the entire setup for every job. Right now, they have to manually upload files, configure render settings, manage assets, and download results.
The goal is to streamline this process — allowing artists to drag in multiple project files, apply a preset, and have everything automated from upload to final download. It should be a seamless, one-click experience.”
— Dino Muhić, Director of Product at OTOY
Differential Uploads Explained
“Save time by reusing existing assets in your workflow.”
Dino highlighted a hidden gem inside Octane Standalone: Differential Uploads. This feature significantly reduces upload times by checking if assets have been previously uploaded — by you or someone else. Instead of re-uploading everything, it only updates what has changed, making scene revisions way faster.
3D artist Gilles Augustijnen, leveraged this feature working across different time zones on Amazon’s ‘The Peripheral.’ The team, working in Houdini, uploaded a VDB sequence once. With Differential Uploading the team was able to reference the file for scene changes, without needing to re-upload the entire scene, saving massive amounts of time. This streamlined asynchronous collaboration and prevented unnecessary file transfers.
Look out, the current web interface is four years old and is getting a major redesign in 2025 to improve user experience. Watch the short snippet for a look into how the feature works:
You can watch Gilles’s full FMX 2024 presentation here.
Render Presets
“Customize and automate workflows for faster project setups.”
Another update is Presets, designed to streamline workflow and automate rendering. Initially available only through API access, this feature will soon be supported directly in the Octane Web App, making it easier than ever to reuse settings across multiple scenes.
How It Works:
- Define a Preset from an existing job.
- Apply that Preset to new scene uploads and eliminate the need to reconfigure settings manually.
- Easily reuse render settings across multiple scenes, ensuring consistency and efficiency.
Why It Matters:
- No need to manually adjust render settings for each job.
- Simply drop in project files, select a preset, and let it handle everything.
- Files are automatically organized and downloaded into predefined folders.
- The goal is seamless automation, making rendering as simple as pressing one button.
Render Network Scene Wizard
“Simplify project exports with intuitive tools for artists.”
The Wizard tool in Octane simplifies rendering on the Render Network by automatically checking for possible issues before upload. It ensures simulations (particles, cloth, rigid/soft bodies) are cached properly to prevent inconsistencies across nodes.
With one-click caching, artists avoid recalculations that could disrupt renders. The tool also flags unsupported custom configurations that allows users to adjust settings before submission.
By automating these steps, the Wizard tool streamlines the process and ensures smooth renders, so artists can focus on creativity instead of troubleshooting.
Using Octane as a Digital Camera
“Why Octane feels intuitive for photographers and artists alike.”
OctaneRender feels intuitive to photographers and artists because it mimics real-world lighting and camera behavior. Dino’s passion for photography and lighting made Octane an easy fit, as it allows users to apply real-world lighting principles easily in 3D. Just like setting up lights for photography, Octane’s physically accurate rendering enables artists to place lights and achieve realism with little effort
Andrey encourages artists to study real-world photography, as those skills seamlessly translate into Octane, allowing them to leverage natural light behavior and reflections for stunning, lifelike results. Octane’s out of the box realism is what makesit a go-to tool for photographers working in 3D.
Advice for aspiring 3D artists: “Study real-world photography and pair it with Octane — it’s the ultimate power. Once you’ve done that in real life and know how to place lights, especially big lights, rectangular lights — lights like these — you go into Octane, and it works the same. There’s no difference. The light behaves correctly — you don’t have to try to make it realistic; it’s realistic out of the box. That was the main thing for me. Coming from Standard or Advanced Render, it felt like a completely different world. And that’s why I got hooked on Octane from the very beginning.” — Dino and Andrey
Artist-Centric Development in 2025
“Making tools easier and more fun for creators to use.”
As both an artist and Director of Product, Dino’s mission is to make Octane and the Render Network more intuitive and enjoyable for artists. After using Octane for over a decade, he’s not only tackling his own pain points, refining plugins, and improving core functionality. From enhancing the Render Network Manager to optimizing Octane’s workflow, the goal is to provide artists with seamless, efficient tools that eliminate friction. Look out as more exciting improvements are made on the Render Network.
“I just want to make things easier for artists. I believe they should be able to create effortlessly and enjoy the process — without unnecessary struggles. Making the experience as seamless and fun as possible is what truly matters to me.” — Dino Muhić, Director of Product at OTOY
- Stay in the know and discover more useful artist resources at:
We’re excited to share more product updates throughout the year and get started using Render today at render.x.io/ with €100 in free Render Credits and free access for Blender users at https://try.rendernetwork.com/bcon24
